Josh Billings on Experience
“There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply.” Josh Billings
Marilyn Monroe on Hollywood
“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” Marilyn Monroe US actress (1926 – 1962)
William Goldman on Life
“Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all.” William Goldman, “The Princess Bride”
Mark Twain on Desire
“A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” Mark Twain, Following the Equator US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Isaac Newton on Science
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton, Letter to Robert Hooke, February 5, 1675 English mathematician & physicist (1642 – 1727)
Publius Tacitus on Laws
“The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.” Publius Tacitus, Annals (117 AD) (Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges)
Winston Churchill on Democracy
“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” Sir Winston Churchill British politician (1874 – 1965)
Indira Gandhi on Peace
“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” Indira Gandhi Indian politician (1917 – 1984)
George Orwell on Truth
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell English essayist, novelist, & satirist (1903 – 1950)
Alfred Hitchcock on Media
“Seeing a murder on television… can help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.” Alfred Hitchcock British movie director (1899 – 1980)
Walt Disney on Movies
“Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.” Walt Disney
Henry David Thoreau on Success
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” Henry David Thoreau US Transcendentalist author (1817 – 1862)
John F. Kennedy on Liberty and Learning
“Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.” John F. Kennedy 35th president of US 1961-1963 (1917 – 1963)
Saint Augustine on Hope
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” Saint Augustine
Epictetus on Difficulty
“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.” Epictetus
Alfred North Whitehead on Dogs and Cats
“If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.” Alfred North Whitehead English mathematician & philosopher (1861 – 1947)
E. F. Schumacher on Innovation
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” E. F. Schumacher
Frank Herbert on Science Fiction
“The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it.” Frank Herbert US science fiction novelist (1920 – 1986)
Mark Twain on Life
“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.” Mark Twain
Will Rogers on Direction
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers US humorist & showman (1879 – 1935)
Floyd Dell on Idleness
“Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything.” Floyd Dell
Alfred North Whitehead’s Cynical Quote
“Everything of importance has been said before by somebody who did not discover it.” Alfred North Whitehead English mathematician & philosopher (1861 – 1947)
Ernest Hemingway on Character
“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Ernest Hemingway
Thomas Jefferson on Luck
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” Thomas Jefferson, (attributed) 3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
Pablo Picasso on Imagination
“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” Pablo Picasso
Alec Bourne on Education
“It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.” Alec Bourne
Samuel Johnson on Knowledge
“Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it.” Samuel Johnson, quoted in Boswell’s Life of Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)
The Bible on Money
“Give up trying so hard to get rich. Your money flies away before you know it, just like an eagle suddenly taking off.” The Bible Proverbs 23:4-5
Rene Char on Poetry
“A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof.” Rene Char
Winston Churchill on Learning
“Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” Sir Winston Churchill British politician (1874 – 1965)
Isaac Asimov on Computers
“I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.” Isaac Asimov
G.K. Chesterton on Modernism
“He who marries the spirit of the times will soon find himself a widower.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
Mohandas K. Gandhi on Money
“Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed.” Mohandas K. Gandhi
Thomas Sowell on Truth
“There are only two ways of telling the complete truth–anonymously and posthumously.” Thomas Sowell (1930 – )
Scott Adams on Business
“Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results.” Scott Adams
Charles de Gaulle on History
“I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent the French from being French.” Charles de Gaulle
Mark Twain on Education
“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” Mark Twain
Doug Larson on Aging
“The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.” Doug Larson
John Elliot on Dreams
“You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” John Elliot
Robert H. Schuller on Character
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Robert H. Schuller
Andre Gide on Discovery
“Man cannot discover new oceans until he has courage to lose sight of the shore.” Andre Gide
Philip G. Hamerton on Quotations
“Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?” Philip G. Hamerton, “The Intellectual Life”
Nancy Astor on Change
“The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything – or nothing.” Nancy Astor British politician (1879 – 1964)
Marlene Dietrich on Wisdom
“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.” Marlene Dietrich German movie actress (1901 – 1992)
Paul Valery on Poetry
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” Paul Valery
Flannery O’Connor on Truth
“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O’Connor US author (1925 – 1964)
Bill Gates on Success
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” Bill Gates
Sophocles on Wisdom
“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.” Sophocles Greek tragic dramatist (496 BC – 406 BC)
Edgar Watson Howe on Lies
“Americans detest all lies except lies spoken in public or printed lies.” Edgar Watson Howe US journalist (1853 – 1937)
Groucho Marx on Books
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx US comedian with Marx Brothers (1890 – 1977)
Plautus on Friendship
“Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.” Plautus
Gilbert K. Chesterton on Journalism
“Journalism largely consists of saying ‘Lord Jones is Dead’ to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
R. D. Hitchcock on Character and Education
“The secret of all success is to know how to deny yourself. Prove that you can control yourself, and you are an educated man; and without this all other education is good for nothing.” R. D. Hitchcock
Mark Twain on Work
“Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.” Mark Twain
Robertson Davies on Society
“There is no nonsense so gross that society will not, at some time, make a doctrine of it and defend it with every weapon of communal stupidity.” Robertson Davies
William Shakespeare on Imagination
“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.” William Shakespeare
Elie Wiesel on Love
“The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.” Elie Wiesel
Saint Augustine on Time
“What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.” Saint Augustine
Gail Sheehy on Change and Life
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” Gail Sheehy
Albert Einstein on Wisdom at Solving Problems
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein
